Georgina Njeri Kirungo is the founder and CEO of Nywele Creative, selling high quality hair extensions such as weaves and wigs made from real human hair.
The company also offers other hair-related services including hair loss and hair volumising solutions.
Njeri ventured into the business after facing challenges while sourcing for a good hair extension in the local market.
Here is her story as told by WoK.
Njeri was born and raised in Parklands, Nairobi.
While she is the only child, both her parents run businesses in the hospitality industry.
She attended Mill Hill Boarding School in London after which she proceeded to University of Brighton in England.
Njeri graduated from the university in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Communications and Media Studies.
She also holds a Master of Science in Development Studies from School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London.
In an interview with People Daily, Njeri noted that she set up the business out of frustrations while sourcing for a hair extension.
“Genuine virgin hair extensions were in the past difficult to find in the country. Where one could access them, they were overpriced and were not offered professionally
“Those who travelled abroad sometimes came back with a few pieces and offered them from their suitcases, which was very juakali,” she said.
Njeri stated that hair extensions that were available were mostly synthetic.
“There was no sparkle and they all looked the same and were all low quality with no resistance to heat styling tools. They couldn’t be manipulated in terms of colour or style and most of them could only be used for a very short time
“Those that flowed like natural hair and could be manipulated in to different colours and styles, high quality hair extensions that could be used for more than three to four years. This suddenly ignited my mind,” she explained.
She spotted a gap that needed to be filled, and immediately embarked on research and sourcing for high quality hair extensions.
“I saw a gap in the Kenyan and African market as a whole, and created the right business relationships with different sources across the globe. I spoke to experts in London who had been sourcing for virgin hair for decades and created networks,” Njeri said.
Njeri further stated that she was amazed by the reception immediately she introduced the products to the Kenyan market.
“With my sources, I was able to order for some virgin human hair extensions and introduced the product to the market
“The response was amazing. Many women loved the product and through referrals I kept on getting more orders,” she said.
The business was established in 2012 as an online store, and six months into it, she had already acquired her store.
“The demand for our product was very high and before 2015 I had opened five branches in some of the largest malls in Nairobi through profits alone
“We were the first to bridge the disconnect between where clients could purchase hair extensions and where they could have them installed,” Njeri said.
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, she started offering home deliveries to suit the customer’s needs.
“Online retail has become a necessity for many of our clients, and has always been for those across the country or the diaspora
“The online presence has expanded our reach and created an additional value for our clients,” Njeri said.
